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Oceania
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World map showing Oceania (geographically)
Oceania is a geographical (often geopolitical) region consisting of numerous countries and territories—mostly islands—in the Pacific Ocean. The exact scope of Oceania is controversial, with varying interpretations including East Timor, Australia, and New Zealand.
For the oceans of the Earth, see Oceans.
Overview
The primary use of the term Oceania is to describe a continental region (like Europe or Africa) that lies between Asia and the Americas, with Australia as the major land mass. The name Oceania is used, rather than Australia, because unlike the other continental groupings, it is the ocean rather than the continent that links the nations together. Oceania is the smallest continental grouping in land area and the second smallest, after Antarctica, in population.
Countries and territories of Oceania
Geopolitical map of Oceania
Oceania has been traditionally divided into Micronesia, Melanesia and Polynesia (originally by the French explorer Dumont d'Urville in 1831). This subdivision is no longer recognised as correct by most geographers and scientists — who prefer to divide Oceania into Near Oceania and Remote Oceania — but it is still the most popular one.
Most of Oceania consists of small island nations. Australia is the only continental country, and Papua New Guinea and East Timor are the only countries with land borders, both with Indonesia.
The nations of Oceania have varying degrees of independence from their colonial powers and have negotiated a wide range of constitutional arrangements to suit their circumstances. The following list contains the countries and territories that are classified as part of Oceania by UNESCO; other countries are sometimes considered part of Oceania (see Other Interpretations below).
Australia
New Zealand
Melanesia
Micronesia
Polynesia
Notes:
- Commonwealth Realms are independent constitutional monarchies in which Elizabeth II reigns as Queen
- See administrative divisions of France
- Although the current Head of State of Samoa, Malietoa Tanumafili II, one of the island's paramount chiefs, can be considered a monarch and will remain in office until his death, according to the constitution of Samoa, his successor will be elected for a 5 year term and not necessarily among the chiefs. This way, hard as it is to classify, Samoa could be considered a republic.
Other interpretations of Oceania
- Australia is sometimes not included in Oceania, although a term like Pacific islands would normally be used to describe Oceania without Australia. The term "Australasia" invariably includes Australia along with the rest of Oceania, but this term is disliked outside of Australia as too greatly emphasising Australia.
- Hawaii is correctly included in Oceania. Hawaiians are a Polynesian race and, although the Hawaiian Islands are some distance from most of the islands of Oceania, they are still physically as well as culturally much closer to the rest of Oceania than to North America - and they are no further from the rest of Oceania than from United States territories in the North Pacific.
- The few U.S. territories in the North Pacific are invariably uninhabited except by itinerant service personnel, and are normally grouped with the mainland United States in North America. They are certainly no part of Oceania and, unlike Hawaii, they are closer to North America - most of them closer to North America than they are to Hawaii.
- Easter Island is a Polynesian island in the eastern Pacific Ocean, part of the territory of Chile, and is correctly included in Oceania.
- On very rare occasions the term may be stretched even further to include other Pacific island groups such as the Aleutian Islands, but these are obviously islands off the coast of North America. It would be just as logical to include the Pacific islands of Russia, all of Japan and the Philippines, insular Malyasia, and all of Indonesia as part of Oceania, as to include the Aleutians.
Table of territories and regions
Name of territory,
with flag[1] |
Area
(km²) |
Population
(1 July 2002 est.) |
Population density
(per km²) |
Capital |
 Australia |
7,686,850 |
19,546,792 |
2.5 |
Canberra |
 Christmas Island (Australia)[2] |
135 |
474 |
3.5 |
The Settlement |
| Cocos (Keeling) Islands (Australia)[3] |
14 |
632 |
45.1 |
West Island |
 New Zealand |
268,680 |
3,908,037 |
14.5 |
Wellington |
 Norfolk Island (Australia) |
35 |
1,866 |
53.3 |
Kingston |
| Melanesia:[4] |
 Fiji |
18,270 |
856,346 |
46.9 |
Suva |
 New Caledonia (France) |
19,060 |
207,858 |
10.9 |
Nouméa |
 Papua New Guinea |
462,840 |
5,172,033 |
11.2 |
Port Moresby |
 Solomon Islands |
28,450 |
494,786 |
17.4 |
Honiara |
 Vanuatu |
12,200 |
196,178 |
16.1 |
Port Vila |
| Micronesia: |
 Federated States of Micronesia |
702 |
135,869 |
193.5 |
Palikir |
 Guam (USA) |
549 |
160,796 |
292.9 |
Hagåtña |
 Kiribati |
811 |
96,335 |
118.8 |
Bairiki |
 Marshall Islands |
181 |
73,630 |
406.8 |
Majuro |
 Nauru |
21 |
12,329 |
587.1 |
Yaren |
 Northern Mariana Islands (USA) |
477 |
77,311 |
162.1 |
Saipan |
 Palau |
458 |
19,409 |
42.4 |
Koror |
| Polynesia:[5] |
 American Samoa (USA) |
199 |
68,688 |
345.2 |
Fagatogo, Utulei[6] |
 Cook Islands (NZ) |
240 |
20,811 |
86.7 |
Avarua |
 French Polynesia (France) |
4,167 |
257,847 |
61.9 |
Papeete |
 Niue (NZ) |
260 |
2,134 |
8.2 |
Alofi |
 Pitcairn Islands (UK) |
47 |
47 |
1.0 |
Adamstown |
 Samoa |
2,944 |
178,631 |
60.7 |
Apia |
| Tokelau (NZ) |
10 |
1,431 |
143.1 |
—[7] |
 Tonga |
748 |
106,137 |
141.9 |
Nuku'alofa |
 Tuvalu |
26 |
11,146 |
428.7 |
Vaiaku |
 Wallis and Futuna (France) |
274 |
15,585 |
56.9 |
Mata-Utu |
| Total |
8,508,648 |
31,623,138 |
3.7 |
Notes:
Oceania in ecology
Oceania is one of eight terrestrial ecozones, which constitute the major ecological regions of the planet. The Oceania ecozone includes all of Micronesia, Fiji, and all of Polynesia except New Zealand. New Zealand, along with New Guinea and nearby islands, Australia, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, and New Caledonia, constitute the separate Australasia ecozone.
Sport
The Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) is one of six football confederations under the auspices of FIFA, the international governing body of football (soccer). The OFC is the only confederation without an automatic qualification to the World Cup Finals. Currently the winner of the OFC must play-off against a South American confederation side.
Oceania has only been represented at three World Cup Finals - Australia in 1974, New Zealand in 1982 and Australia in 2006. However, Australia is now no longer a member of the Oceania Football Confederation, having joined the Asian Football Confederation in 2006.
See also
External links
The content of this page is retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oceania under GFDL
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